Camille
by pikapikatchu
Summary: After having his heart and spirits broken by Juno, Greg tries to go on with life - and possibly love. Follows the events of "Groupie"
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys!**

 **This is my latest story, I hope you'll enjoy it! It follows "Groupie", so make sure you read that one before you start here!**

 **Big Love,**

 **pikapikatchu**

* * *

"I think you have to face the truth, Greg. This has nothing to do with sex and it never had. Sex was never the problem." Dr. Reyes crossed her legs as she watched Greg fidget in his seat nervously. She knew it wasn't a subject he liked to talk about. In fact, he had managed to avoid this subject for weeks now, but the psychiatrist knew that this was why he didn't make much progress any more. "This wasn't about sex. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I mean... sure. That's what they say, that's what they teach. But... It didn't feel like that. And the fact that I have trouble with..." Greg tried really hard to verbalize his thoughts but his point didn't quite come across.

"You **don't** have troubles with sex, Greg. Your problem lies deeper, which is why you didn't bear your friend Nick's touch for a long time. It's why you locked your bedroom door when you slept over at his place and it's why you can't talk with him about this. You have trust issues and that's perfectly normal."

Greg laughed humourlessly. "Is it? You keep telling me how normal everything I say and feel is, yet every woman I've been with in the last three years told me it wasn't. Even Nick is tired of trying to convince me it's normal, because it's not."

"Given the circumstances... it is, you know that. You have to work on your trust issues if you want to engage in any physical **or** romantic relationship. You're still living with Nick, right?"

He nodded. "And I don't lock the door anymore. That's something, right?"

"Yes, it is. But it's not the end, it's only the start. You still have a long way to go."

"Yeah, but do I have to go that way? Why can't I just be happy the way it is? I'm fine without a relationship, isn't that enough?"

* * *

Greg was at work seven hours after his therapy session. Dr. Reyes' words were on loop in Greg's mind, he couldn't stop thinking about it. She told him that settling for the current state was avoiding the problems he had and that he'd always have huge setbacks if he didn't tackle the problems and try to eradicate them. Him and Russell had been working a crime scene for two hours when a detective walked up to them. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late," the detective said with a smile on her face. "I didn't know I had to work the graveyard shift today. I'm Camille Linus." They shook hands.

"No problem, thanks for filling in." Russell quickly briefed her on the case. "The victim's family is over there, we can go talk to them now."

"...Uh, Russell, I told you I could do that," Greg chimed in, looking a bit hurt. He knew Russell only meant well, but he didn't like being treated with kids gloves. Juno's viscous attack happened three weeks ago and the CSI was still recovering from it – both physically and emotionally.

The supervisor shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"Well, it is for me." He handed him a piece of evidence he just collected. "I'm ready."

Russell sighed as he watched his colleague walk off. He tried to protect Greg from himself, but he knew this wasn't always possible.

* * *

Finishing talking to the victim's family, Greg was obviously a little strained by it. Camille noticed. "Hey, are you alright? Are you new on this job?"

"What? No, I've been doing this for a few years now." He shook his head as he chuckled.

"Oh, sorry. I just figured... the way your colleague was talking to you suggested that you're not experienced in talking to the families."

"No, I've done this a lot. He's my boss but he likes to act like a father, you know?" He smiled.

Camille nodded as she swiped some strands of her auburn hair out of her face. "So... Is it rude to ask you about your injuries, half an hour after meeting you?"

He was a bit caught off guard by this honest question. "Well..."

"Sorry, then. I guess I am a little rude sometimes." Her smile got bigger. "Guess that's one of the reasons I wanted to be a detective, I'm nosy."

"I-It's okay. ...I was attacked three weeks ago," he explained.

"Oh, so sorry to hear that. On the job?"

He shook his head.

She noticed he didn't really want to elaborate and she didn't even know how to respond to it. She had assumed it was on the job and felt like an idiot now. "Well... sorry I intruded... and thank you for answering, anyway, I guess. I was hoping the answer would've been more in the line of 'hit by a bus while bravely saving a dog' or 'that dog jumped me and hit me in the face with his head because he was so happy I saved him', you know?" She noticed the frown on Greg's face. "Hey, don't judge me! I might've not saved a dog, but a dog once gave me a black eye hitting me in the face with his head."

Greg laughed. "That's not true!"

"Yeah it is. Still got a little scar left, see?" She pointed on her right eye, a tiny scar was visible. "My mom's dog is crazy, but I love him."

"Well, for what it's worth, I would prefer an explanation like that, too."

She gently patted his arm as she walked off. "You can use that answer next time a nosy jerk like me asks!"

* * *

Even though she wasn't exactly happy about it, Camille was forced to work the graveyard shift more often in the next few days. And even though she liked to complain about it, there was a reason she actually didn't mind as much. That reason was Greg.

The CSI started talking about a case with the detective as they were walking through the lab's halls. As usual, once they finished talking about work, they had a non-work related conversation. These talks usually lasted up to 15 minutes, just like today. After their talk, Greg walked into the break room with quite a confused and worried look on his face.

Nick sat down at the table. "Hey there." He noticed the look on his friend's face. "...Something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. ...I think so." He walked over the coffee machine to fix himself a cup. "Camille dropped a billion hints at me, she's waiting for me to ask her out."

Nick nodded, but couldn't stop smiling.

"...Stop smiling, this is an issue for me."

"I know, I know. Sorry. It's just... I just can't tell you how jealous I am. She's gorgeous, man. She's nice, funny and dedicated to her job."

"You don't need to tell me how great she is, I've noticed that, too. It's just that it's been great the way it is. Seeing her really brightened my day, you know? But now..." He shrugged.

"That doesn't have to change, does it?"

"But it will. She'll either lose interest and start to keep her distance or she'll ask me out eventually."

"And you're sure you don't want that?"

He sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "I don't know. ...No. No, I don't."

"Just because of Juno?"

"...'Just' because of her?"

"Sorry, didn't mean it like that. It's just... I understand you had some bad experiences. Many, many bad ones. But you can't let this influence your life like that. There's too many great things you could miss out on because of it. Maybe you just got a little too close with Juno too quickly. This time you can take it slow."

"...Nick, I know you're trying to help right now, but it's not helping me at all. It's not that simple. Let's just assume she can be trusted, doesn't mean she'd want to go out with someone like me."

"Maybe, but would it be fair to take that decision from her?"

Greg shrugged thoughtfully. "It's not easy dating me. I just want this to go on like it's been the last few weeks, you know? It's an innocent flirt and I'd prefer it to stay that way."

"So you'll turn her down when she asks you out?"

"Yeah."

"So you're giving up?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I kept you waiting! Enjoy this chapter! ;)**

* * *

The following two weeks, Greg was keeping a little more distance from Camille. Nick's words resonated with him. He was dreading the thought of getting better. He dreaded the thought of being intimate with someone, which didn't make it easy for him to picture getting over his fears as something positive. It was quite a viscous circle. So while he wanted to get better, he also dreaded getting there.

While he was still looking forward to working with Camille, every time he found out she was going be at the scene with him, he got a little anxious. He tried to hide it as much as possible, but being a detective who had worked with victims for years she noticed the signs. She had no idea about Neil Novak and what happened to Greg, but figured it could have something to do with his wounds that were already fading.

Greg was just finished with his latest session with Dr. Reyes. It was quite an emotional session today. He was finally ready to talk about these fears he had of getting better and he had cried quite a lot while discussing it. Wiping away the tears on his face, he opened the door to walk out. He bumped into someone as he walked through the doorway. "...Sorry." He had his head down and didn't look at the person.

"...Greg, hey. What... What are you doing here?" Camille had a surprised look on her face.

Greg's face impression showed more shock than surprise. Terror, even.

"Do you work on the..." She stopped talking as she noticed the tears on his cheeks. They stood there in awkward silence until Dr. Reyes walked up to them.

"Is everything alright, Greg?", the psychiatrist asked. "...Hello, can I help you?"

"Uh yeah, I... uhm... Sorry. I-I'm Detective Linus, I need to talk to you about one of your clients. The name's... Uhm, sorry, I... I wrote it..." She grabbed a notepad out of her pocket, her hands shaking nervously. "Dana Kelley."

Dr. Reyes frowned as her eyes kept looking at Greg. "Sure. Greg, do you want to come back in for a moment before I help out detective Linus?"

He shook his head. "No, I... I need to go."

"...No, Greg. Wait, I..." Camille walked two steps towards him, but he quickly walked out.

* * *

The following shift, Greg was awfully quiet around Nick. He hadn't told his friend about his awkward encounter with Camille at Dr. Reyes' practice yet. He was ashamed and confused and wanted to figure out what to do about it on his own. But they had already worked with Camille today and the tension between the two was obvious. As the CSIs were walking through the lab's halls, Nick tried to ask him about it. "Hey, did you notice anything wrong with Camille?"

Greg stepped into the locker room. "...No." Noticing this answer caused only more suspicion, he added, "Why? Did you?"

"Yeah, I think so." Nick opened his locker. "She seemed sad."

"...Sad?" Greg had a thoughtful look on his face. Nick kept talking for almost two minutes, but Greg didn't listen. He was lost in his thoughts, staring into his opened locker.

"...But maybe something's wrong in her private life," Nick finished his thought. He closed his locker, which startled Greg. "Sorry. ...didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't." He sighed. "Nick... She knows."

"Knows what?" Nick sat down on the bench to tie his shoelaces.

"About me."

Nick raised his eyebrows. "What? You... You told her?"

Greg leaned against his locker. "Not exactly. She needed to talk to Dr. Reyes about a case. I just walked out of there, it was weird."

"Wow. So you told her... everything? About Novak and Juno?"

Greg shook his head as he looked away in embarrassment. "I left without saying a word. I feel so stupid. So embarrassed."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about and you know that. Everyone else at the station knows. Besides, it was only a matter of time for her to find out."

"I know, but I was hoping to have a few more months before she started treating me differently."

"Maybe she won't."

"She already does. She avoided me today, you noticed it, too."

"...But that's because she doesn't know what's going on. You walked out without explaining anything, she's confused and probably scared she might say the wrong thing. Talk to her, then you'll find out how she'll react and how she'll treat you afterwards."


	3. Chapter 3

**3rd round!**

* * *

Greg decided to follow Nick's advice, but he needed two days to work up the courage to do it. He had practised telling the story of how his life dramatically changed after he got attacked by Novak a few times now and while it wasn't something he enjoyed, he was able to do it without getting too uncomfortable. But after telling Juno resulted in yet another traumatizing attack, he found it to be much harder.

Him and Camille were working at a crime scene together and the last patrol car had already left. They were alone, it was the perfect opportunity to ask her to grab a coffee later to explain himself. Ironically, they were working yet another rape case.

"I just got off the phone with officer Spencer. The victim collapsed on the way to the hospital, she needs surgery," Camille walked up to Greg, who was processing the victim's bedroom, where she had been raped in.

Greg nodded. "The good news is, the guy left his DNA. If he's in the system, we got him."

Camille sighed as she wandered around the bedroom. "Have you seen the door? Full of blood."

"I guess he pushed it open when she was unlocking it. That's where she got the wound on her forehead."

Camille nodded as she frowned. "Can't imagine how much this must hurt."

"A lot, but the pain's numbed by the shock at first."

"Yeah? How do you kno..." she said thoughtless before she stopped herself. They looked at each other for a moment before she looked away in embarrassment, quickly trying to change the subject. "L-Let's hope he's in the system." She saw the look on Greg's face but couldn't really make anything of it, she had no idea what he thought right now. She put her hand on her forehead. "...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you when I walked into that psychiatrist's practice. And you don't have any reason to be. My mouth is sealed, I won't tell anyone." She smiled. "Hah, feels good to get that out. No need for any more awkward moments, right?"

Greg stared at her quite confused and surprised.

"...Or maybe not. Did I say something wrong?"

He hastily shook his head. "No. No, it's just... I expected... You don't want to know why I was there in the first place?"

"Well, sure, you already know how nosy I am. But you don't have any reason to tell me and I don't want this to get any more awkward. I just wanted to let you know I'm able to keep a secret."

Greg smiled at her. "That's sweet, but... It's no secret. Unfortunately... the whole lab knows. ...And the whole police station, actually."

For a moment, both forgot they were at work and at a crime scene, so they kept talking about this. "...They do? ...How come?"

"It involved the arrest of a serial killer. ...And also the arrest of a police officer." He went on to briefly tell her about Neil Novak. Quite surprisingly for him, she knew who Novak was.

"I remember this. It was all over the news. ...Horrible story. I researched Neil Novak's cases because we had a missing person case around that time and suspected he was one of Novak's victims." She sighed. "Greg, I... I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry this happened to you."

"It's been three years, it's... okay. I'm over it." Both knew this was a lie. It was clearly visible in his face that it was still hard to talk about it.

"...But he's still in prison, right? He has nothing to do with your injuries?"

"He's in a coma, he can't hurt anyone. ...But I guess indirectly it's his fault I got attacked again." He quickly explained what he meant by that by mentioning Juno.

Camille nodded. "You've been through so much, you poor guy. I don't know what to say."

"It's okay."

"So... does it affect you in your daily life in any way?"

Greg dreaded a question like that, but he decided he'd try to be as honest as possible. "Not always but... I get scared easily."

"Yeah, who wouldn't after something like that?"

"...And, uh... dating's been difficult ever since."

She raised her eyebrows. "...You... **don't** date?"

"Well I tried a few times but... Let's just say there's certain aspects in a relationship I don't want to engage in at the moment." Greg tried to verbalize his issues as clearly as possible without getting into too much intimate detail with her. He succeeded, she knew what he meant.

"So you stopped trying?"

Greg shrugged as he finally concentrated on his work again by taking pictures of a strand of hair from the victim the rapist had ripped out of her head. "For now, I guess."

"Why?"

He slightly sighed as he bagged the hair. "I don't think it'd be fair to the other person to get into a relationship that's doomed to fail."

"...Wow, pretty negative talk. Why do you think every relationship you're getting into is doomed to fail?"

Greg laughed humourlessly. "Would you want to date someone like me?"

" **Someone** like you? No. But you? Yeah, I'd date you." Camille smiled at him.

This caught him off guard. He didn't know how to react other than smile sheepishly as he blushed and looked away.

Nick walked into the victim's apartment. "Hey guys, I..." He couldn't help but notice some tension again. It didn't even once cross his mind that it was a different kind of tension than before. But as he looked into his colleagues' faces he noticed they were both smiling. "...Am I interrupting something?"

Camille chuckled as she patted Nick's shoulder. "Yeah, kinda." She walked out of the apartment.

"...What happened? You're blushing."

"No I'm not." Greg couldn't stop smiling.

"Did she just ask you out?"

"No." The smile on his face just wouldn't fade. "Well... not exactly, but she said she wants to date me."

* * *

Greg and Camille didn't get a chance to work together in the next two days. It gave the CSI enough time to think this whole thing through. And even though he was coming to terms with living a single life for the rest of his life before, he changed his mind at the prospect of dating Camille. He now was determined to work on his issues. Dr. Reyes was giving him a few tips on how to get more comfortable with intimacy and together they decided to work on it in the next few weeks. Greg knew it would not be easy to face his demons but he figured the detective was worth it.

Him and Camille were working on a gas station robbery and Greg was processing behind the register. The gas station clerk had shot at the robbers and hit one, but they escaped, anyway. He was concentrated on his work when the detective walked in.

"Hey, so the clerk..." she stopped talking as she noticed she'd scared the CSI with her sudden entry. "Sorry." She smiled. "Didn't mean to startle you."

He shook his head with an embarrassed look on his face. "You were saying?"

"Yeah, the clerk fired three shots because he **thinks** they had guns. Surveillance cameras have been down for months but he figured leaving them up would be enough to scare robbers away."

"...Guess he thought wrong, huh?"

She nodded. "Found anything helpful yet?"

"Not really. I processed the room and found dozens of different shoe prints. The guy's blood is probably our best shot at finding them."

"Okay, let's just hope he's in the system. When you're done in here, there's some interesting shoe prints behind the building. Looks like someone stood there smoking cigarettes, but the clerk doesn't smoke. It's behind that window." She pointed at a window opposite where the register was. "Maybe they were standing there and watching the clerk."

* * *

As they walked out, the patrol car that had been standing in front of the gas station since the CSI got here took off. It was just Camille and Greg at the scene now. "...W-Where did you say were the prints?" The gas station was in the middle of nowhere and the silence made him quite uncomfortable.

She frowned as she looked at him. "Are you alright?" She noticed a change in his behavior but had no clue what was wrong.

He nodded, faintly smiling at her, but only giving off a more worried vibe than before.

"...You sure?" They walked to the spot the detective was talking about. "See? There's the prints and there's the cigarette butts."

He crouched down to take a closer look at the evidence. "This might help us. Good job." This time, his smile was genuine. He was starting to feel comfortable again as he started collecting the evidence.

They could hear a car pull up in front of the gas station. Camille sighed annoyed. "Can't these people read a police tape? I'll tell them to go away, I'll be back in a second."

* * *

Greg was concentrated deep into his work again, he only noticed someone walking up to him when that person was only a few feet away from him. "I hope they weren't too much of a hassle," he said as he got up, turning towards who he believed to be Camille, but it was a stranger. "...Oh."

The man just stood there, grinning at the CSI, the smell of cold cigarette smoke and liquor filling the air around him.

"...S-Sir, this is a crime scene, you need to leave." Greg tried to stay calm, even though his heart was racing. He hated himself for not bringing a gun, but Russell asked him not to. Knowing the CSI was scared and insecure at the moment, he feared he might be too trigger-happy.

The man just kept smiling as he reached forward, trying to grab the plastic bag with the cigarette butts out of the scared CSIs hands, but Greg mistook this with the man trying to attack him.

"...No!" Greg jumped back.

"Hey, get lost!" Camille hurried up to the two.

The man turned around to her, pushing her. An unexpected move for both her and Greg, but none she couldn't deal with. "Fine!" She grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm around and pushed him to the ground to cuff him. "Stay down, you jerk!" She put one knee on his back, pushing him down as she called for a patrol car through her radio.

Greg stood there with eyes wide open, both shocked and impressed over the scenery.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she smiled at him.

He was too shocked to answer right away.

"Greg? Did he hurt you?"

"...N-no, I'm fine. Thanks, that was... thanks."

"Oh please, look at him. He... Oh damn, he fell asleep." They could hear the man snore, so she got up. "Well at least you can go back to work without him making any more troubles until the patrol car arrives."

He nodded, still staring at the man. It took him a few moments before he was able to look back at her. "...Do you want to have breakfast later?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Next chapter's up! Enjoy! And thanks for the Reviews and Follows! :)  
**

* * *

Greg was proud he made the first move and it showed in his attitude. Nick noticed right away and was glad to see his friend genuinely happy again.

"So? How did it go?" Nick asked interested as he came home after pulling a double shift. He slightly frowned as he saw Greg sit on the floor, a paper in front of him on the coffee table. "What are you doing?"

"Writing a letter."

Nick raised his eyebrows. "A letter? Why, is the internet down?"

He chuckled. "No."

Nick walked over the coffee table to look over Greg's shoulder.

"Hey, that's private!"

"Come on, tell me! Who are you writing to?"

"Juno."

"...Oh. Why?"

"Dr. Reyes thought it would be a good idea."

"...Really?"

Greg gave him a look. "Juno won't read it. I'm just supposed to write my thoughts and feelings down, you know?"

"Mhm... Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"Have to." He got off his seat and walked into the guest room to put the paper and pen away. He walked back into the living room with tension in his face. He wasn't ready and he knew it, but he **wanted** to be.

Nick sat down on the couch as he sighed. "You're pushing yourself, don't do that."

"I'll try." He smiled at his friend. "But I need to get through this."

"So I take it the date went well?" Nick grinned.

Greg gave him a look before walking into the kitchen. He came back out with two bottles of water, handing one to Nick before sitting down on the arm chair next to the couch. "Uh-huh."

"So tell me, how was it?"

"It was good."

Now Nick gave him a look. "Meaning?"

"Meaning it's none of your business." Greg smiled. "I can't believe how understanding Camille is, you know. We talked a lot about, well, everything, and she understands that it might be a long way until we can have something like a normal relationship. She said she's willing to be patient."

"Great. That sounds nice. And I'm glad you decided to work on your issues instead of just accept the current state."

"Me, too." Greg smiled. "It's scary, but I have a good feeling about this."

* * *

Greg made sure to take things slow this time. While him and Juno were spending almost every day together, him and Camille met once or twice a week. Their dates were usually quite casual, breakfast after work or grabbing something to eat on their breaks. And while Camille was fine with taking things slow, she decided it was time for a date far away from work. "So I decided we should go on a real date on our days off, you know?"

"...Real date?" the CSI asked quite insecure as they were walking towards their cars. They had just finished their work at a crime scene. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, dinner and a movie or... whatever. Just... we're always meeting either after work or in our breaks. We always talk a lot about work, I think we should get away from it a bit, you know?"

"Uh... yeah. Sure. You're... you're right."

"...Unless that makes you uncomfortable." They stopped in front of Greg's denali. "It's not that I don't enjoy..."

He stopped her. "No. It's okay. We can go on a real date, sure."

She put a big smile on her face. "Really? Great! How about..." She noticed the insecure and worried look Greg put on. He used to be a lot more relaxed about dating, but after the experiences with Juno, a huge setback followed and he was more frightened about the whole thing than right after the Novak ordeal. "...You know what? We should do something fun. Maybe bring Nick along."

"...Nick?" He frowned a little.

"Yeah, I mean... I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. I didn't mean we should get on a real date to... you know, move things along. I just meant we should get some distance from work."

Her straight-forwardness sometimes overwhelmed Greg a little, but it also made things a lot easier for him. "You'd be okay with him tagging along?"

* * *

Dating Camille helped Greg make a lot of progress in his therapy sessions with Dr. Reyes. He was perfectly comfortable being alone with the detective thanks to his wonderful psychiatrist and they were finally engaging in some physical contact, even though they never went beyond kissing. "I think I'm ready to sleep with her," Greg announced as he was sitting on the couch in Dr. Reyes' practice.

She raised her eyebrows. "Really? You've been dating for how long, three weeks?"

"...Almost four."

"What makes you think you're ready?"

The CSI shrugged. "I feel very comfortable around her. I finally found someone who understands. Who's not pressuring me into doing things I'm not comfortable with..."

"...So you're pressuring yourself instead? Greg, it's only been two months."

"...No, I just said four weeks."

"I mean Juno. You've been attacked two months ago, now you met a woman you like and think you can skip over the months of work ahead of you?"

He shrugged. "I'm sick and tired of talking about this, I just want to get back to how things were before I met Novak."

"I understand that, but I don't think it's a good idea to rush this. You might be ready to go through with it, but I'm not convinced you're ready to deal with the aftermath of it."

"...The aftermath? Why are you talking about it like it's going to be horrible?"

"Because it very well might be. You're probably expecting it to be great and magical, but what if it isn't? What if you're changing your mind midway through?"

Greg frowned. "I'm pretty confident I won't. What makes you think I could change my mind now but won't in a few months?"

"Because then we would've worked on it on an emotional level before you jumped into this without giving it any more thought." She sighed. She knew Greg could be quite a stubborn client once he set his mind on something. But this time she really feared it could damage him even further if he went ahead with it. "We've been working together for quite some time now, Greg. Believe me when I say this... You're not ready yet."


	5. Chapter 5

**I hope you guys like this story!**

* * *

After being all cheerful when he was certain he was ready to sleep with Camille, Dr. Reyes had put quite a damper on Greg's mood. It showed in his face and his posture, as well as his work performance. While Russell was trying to be understanding and realized Greg was going through tough times, he couldn't close his eyes over the CSI's sloppyness at work anymore. He put him on desk duty until he got a psych evaluation. He requested it to be done by another psychiatrist, fearing Dr. Reyes might not be partial enough to objectively evaluate the CSI. The young CSI was not happy with this, but knew there was no point in arguing with his supervisor. Russell had already made an appointment with Dr. Harrison, a highly respected psychiatrist in the field of sexual crimes. Russell had worked with him on a few of his cases and was certain he'd be able to assess Greg's current state of mind and could tell the supervisor whether Greg was fit to work or not.

Greg walked into the lab a few hours after his appointment with Dr. Harrison. The rather depressed and down look on his face had faded, now he looked angry. He walked through the lab's halls without greeting any of his colleagues he passed by, not even Nick. "Thanks a lot, Russell!" He stormed into the supervisor's office. "What were you thinking, making an appointment for me with **that** guy?!"

Russell was standing in his office with Sara, talking about a case. "It's best to wait for the results before asking for a search warrant. Keep me postet, okay?" He walked Sara out and closed the door. "He's one of the best in his field, Greg."

"Yeah, I'm sure he is," he replied sarcastically. "Did he send my evaluation in already?"

Russell nodded. "Got it by mail a few hours ago. What... What happened in there, Greg? I really didn't expect **this**."

Greg released a deep sigh as he sat down. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to open up about this? It took me a while to be able to talk to Dr. Reyes about it, and now that I finally trust her you question her competence?"

"It's not that I question her skills, Greg." Russell sat down on the corner of his desk. "I just wanted someone who didn't know you to tell me whether or not you're okay."

"...Well, why didn't you just **ask me** instead of sending me to... that guy."

The supervisor shrugged. "It's not that easy talking to you lately. And I get that and tried to respect it. I figured talking to a psychiatrist would be easier than talking to your boss, you know?"

"Yeah but..." Greg gave him a sad look. "...why **him**?"

"...What's wrong with hi... Oh." Russell got off his seat. "Oh. Oh Greg, I'm sorry. I didn't... you didn't want to talk to him because he's a man?"

Greg started to fidget in his seat. "S-So what now? I'm suspended or something?"

Russell shook his head. "No, of course not. I just want you to be okay. Maybe Dr. Reyes can recommend a colleague to do the evaluation... or maybe do it herself. We'll figure something out, alright?"

* * *

Since all Greg said to Dr. Harrison was that he didn't want to talk, Russell managed to void the evaluation by the psychiatrist and get Dr. Reyes to do one instead. Greg wasn't happy with that one, either. Dr. Reyes did write that she thought Greg was fit to work, but advised Russell to keep him supervised for the next few shifts. But instead of complaining about it to Russell, he decided to take it up with the doctor herself, asking her why she thought he needed supervision.

"Because I worry about you," was her dry response. "This attack obviously traumatized you in a way that you don't realize yet and while I know how that affects you in your private life, I can't exactly know how it's going to influence your work."

"... **I** can tell you that. Not at all. Because I'm fine. It's affected me in a way that made me realize that life is short and I shouldn't waste it in a psychiatrist's office!"

She shook her head. "That's not what you told me in our first session after the attack. You were ready to stop trying to date for good, remember? Even when you met Camille, you didn't want to pursue her any further. Then something changed and you decided to rush into things."

Greg sighed annoyed, knowing she was right. "So? Is it really reprehensible to change my mind? Ever since I decided this, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest! Maybe that's what I needed. Maybe my problems with this matter were all caused by my belief that I wasn't ready yet."

"Or maybe you're still not ready but try to talk yourself into it. I can't stress this enough, Greg... It's very likely you won't be able to deal with it afterwards."

* * *

Since Camille and Greg had both agreed that they would take things slow, Greg didn't feel too much pressure when she asked him to spend some time over at her place. She had a lovely two-bedroom apartment with a big living room, where they were having dinner together while sitting on her couch. Camille had just gotten off her seat to get desert. She put two plates with cherry pie on the coffee table and sat down next to him again. "Here you go. Do you want to watch a movie or something?" She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. She started eating the pie but put her plate down on the coffee table once she realized Greg didn't eat, but instead look at her. "You hardly ate anything, don't tell me you're full already." She smiled.

He shook his head. "No, it's just... You're beautiful."

Her smile got bigger. "Oh Greg, you're so sweet." Camille gently stroked his cheek, but quickly pulled her hand back, out of fear it might make him uncomfortable. But it didn't, they started making out.

After a few minutes, Camille got off the couch, grabbed Greg by the hand and lead him into the bedroom. He got a little anxious as soon as he realized what was about to happen but was quite determined not to back out. But the moment they both sat down on the bed, he panicked.

When Camille noticed that he was shaking, she stopped kissing him and instead started stroking his arm, leaning against him. "This is nice," she said, hoping to reassure him it was fine the way it was between them right now.

"...Yeah." He sighed, both desperate and relieved. He felt like crying his eyes out over the inability to get as intimate with her as he wished to, but held his tears back. They remained like this for a few minutes but got interrupted by Camille's phone ringing. "You should get that."

"It's probably unimportant."

He shrugged. "Could be work."

She realized he wanted her to leave him alone for a moment, so she walked into the kitchen to answer the phone.

Greg put his hands over his eyes for a minute, trying to digest what just happened. He felt horrible about it but tried to tell himself there was no need to – it didn't work. When he put his hands away from his face, he realized someone was staring at him from the doorway. "...Who are you?"

Instead of answering the question, the man stormed over to Greg and grabbed him by his shirt. He punched him in the face without a warning.

"...No!" Greg yelled, trying to fight the man off, but he hit him again, causing him to fall down on the bed. The man was kneeling on the bed, bent over him with one hand wrapped around Greg's neck. This triggered the traumatic memories Neil Novak inflicted on the young CSI, he was in panic mode now, the fear paralyzing him.

"...Oh god, no! Stop it!" Camille hurried over to the two. "Are you out of your mind?! I said stop!" She grabbed the man and pulled him off of Greg. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She pushed him away from her before hurrying over to Greg. "I'm so sorry, are you okay? Oh no, you're bleeding... Look at what you did, Ed!"

"...You know him?" Greg asked confused and scared, putting his hand on his bleeding nose.

"I'm so sorry. I'll get some ice for your face. I should've... I'm sorry." She turned around, meaning to walk into the kitchen.

"Camille, wait! Don't... leave me with..." The CSI was sitting on the bed, unable to think of what to do next. He was too shocked.

"I want him out of the bed **now** ," the man named Ed said furiously.

Camille stopped to walk back over to Ed. "Are you serious? Are you freakin' serious?! Look at him! You had no right to do that! I should arrest you!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room, leaving Greg even more confused than before.

* * *

Camille walked back into the bedroom a few minutes later, with an ice pack and a towel in her hand. "Here. For your face and... your nose."

Greg's nose seemed to be bleeding profoundly and the left side of his face was reddened. "...What just happened? Who is this guy? ...And why'd he attack me?" He was sitting on the floor now, his back leaning against the bed.

She sighed heavily. "I should've told you about him, but I didn't expect him to come here. He lives in Reno now and... I forgot he still had my keys. He's my ex-fiance."

"...You were engaged?"

"Yeah, we broke up two months ago when he decided to move to Reno. He wanted me to come with him but I didn't want to give up my life here. He wanted to try a long-distant relationship but I didn't. He's still not really accepted the fact that we broke up and still considers this his place. I asked him for the keys back weeks ago and he just wouldn't hand them over. I didn't think he'd just come here, that's why I haven't changed the locks yet and... Now it got you hurt. I'm **so** sorry."

Ed walked in, still looking as furious as he did when he attacked Greg. "Tell him to leave already."

She sighed as she rolled her eyes. "I think it's better if you just leave, Greg."

"...I'm not leaving you with him here," Greg whispered in concern.

"It's not like that, he's not violent." When she noticed his look, she went on. "...Towards me. He's never touched me and he never will. It's okay, really."

"...But I don't trust him."

"Neither do I." She smiled gently. "But he'd never hurt me, I know that."


	6. Chapter 6

When Nick arrived at the apartment from his shift that morning, he was surprised to find Greg wasn't home. He usually was at home around that time when he wasn't working, so Nick started to worry. After calling his friend, he found out he was at his own apartment right now, so the CSI drove there immediately.

He knocked on the door as he walked in. "Greg?"

"I'm in the bathroom, come in."

Nick raised an eyebrow as he realized the bathroom door was open. "Everything alright? I was worried when I got home and you weren't there. How did your date with Camille go?"

Greg walked into the living room with a fresh ice pack over his left eye. "You tell me."

Nick had just sat down on the couch, but immediately rose up when he saw his friend. "What the hell happened?!" He hurried over to him to take a look at the wounded face. "Who did this?" Nick put his hand on Greg's chin to take a better look at the wounds.

"Ouch, watch it." He gently pushed Nick back. "I think it's worse than it looks. ...But hurts more than you'd think."

"Have you been to the hospital? Is that blood on your shirt?"

"My nose was bleeding. I don't need a hospital, it's fine."

"...Well, have you been to the police station?"

"What?"

"To report whoever did this." Nick thought about it. "...Please don't tell me Camille did this."

Greg laughed humorlessly. "No, of course not. ...Her ex-fiance did it, though."

"...Ex-fiance? She... what?"

He sat down on the couch with an annoyed look on his face. "Can you believe she didn't tell me about him? I mean, we weren't that serious yet... but I deserve to know, don't you think?"

"Camille was engaged? For how long?"

Greg shrugged. "All I know is that they broke up only two months ago and that he's a violent lunatic."

"Well, did she arrest him or something?"

Greg shook his head as he put his feet on the coffee table.

"...Why not?"

"Because he's her ex, Nick. And I'm fine."

"You're not fine. He had no reason to attack you."

"Yeah well, he did, anyway. It was a weird situation and I just want to forget it ever happened. No reason to blow this out of proportion."

"...I'm not blowing this out of proportion. Have you looked into a mirror?"

He gave Nick a look. "I'm **fine**."

"Would you stop it? I'm concerned and I have every right to be." Nick tapped his foot on the floor. "Alright, I'll call her."

"...What? No, don't."

"You obviously failed to tell her that her ex-fiance's behavior is unacceptable. He can't run around beating up people without facing any consequences."

"Stop it, Nick. I can handle this myself."

"But you're not. You're waiting for this to go away on its own, but as long as this guy's in the picture... it won't."

Greg rolled his eyes. "Just sit down and relax for a moment. And don't call her."

He pulled his cell phone out. "I'm sorry, I have to."

"...No! Nick!" Greg jumped off the couch.

Nick started browsing his phone for Camille's number. "I'll just ask her a few questions about this guy, is all."

Greg took a few steps towards his friend. "I don't want you to. Leave it alone." He reached his hand out for Nick to give him the phone, but he didn't.

"It's for your best. Both of you. If you ever want a healthy relationship with this woman you have to..."

"I don't want that!" he almost yelled as he interrupted him. "Just give it a rest. I'm done with her."

Nick looked quite surprised. "What? ...Why?"

"...Just don't call her."

"Greg..." Nick sighed. "Why don't you want to report him? Are you worried she might be mad at you when you do?"

He shook his head as he sat down again. "It's not just that. I... can't go through this again."

"What do you mean?" Nick sat down next to him.

"What do you think will happen once I report him? I'll have to talk some detective through it over and over again." He looked down to his feet. "It makes forgetting about it almost impossible."

"...Was it that bad?"

He slightly nodded. "You know, I was in her bedroom because we... we've wanted to... she just went out to take a phone call and there he was. His second punch landed me on the bed and he... See? I hate talking about this, gets me to tear up." Greg wiped away some tears rolling down his cheek with an embarrassed smile on his lips.

"Yeah, but that's okay."

"Is it? If Russell finds out he'll put me on desk duty."

"...Why do you think he'd do that?"

"Because he's worried I'm too distracted at work already. If he finds out a situation like this causes me to panic and be... unable to speak about it without crying like a baby... He won't be needing a psychiatrist's evaluation for that decision."

"...So what? This guy gets to assault you without any repercussions?"

"She swears he's usually not violent." Greg shrugged. "So... Yeah."

Nick shook his head. "I get it, man, but... I don't think it's the right decision."

"Well, it's **my** decision."

The two sat in silence before Nick talked again, "So what about you two? Everything alright between you?"

"Nothing's alright. First I panicked in the middle of making out with her and then... when this idiot jumped me."

"You got to stop beating yourself up for something completely normal in your situation. If she minds, she'll let you know. But until then... operate under the belief that she's a normal person who understands that traumatic experiences are sometimes hard to deal with. Be glad she's understanding."


	7. Chapter 7

As Nick and Greg were walking into the break room at the start of their shift the next day, the younger CSIs cell phone kept ringing. "...Camille again."

"Why don't you want to talk to her?" Nick asked as he sat down.

He shrugged. "I don't know, I just can't... I hope she's not working tonight."

"You'll have to talk to her sooner or later, might as well just get it over with."

Greg gave him a look as he sat down, right when Russell walked in.

"Hello, guys. It's just us three tonight, Sara took the night off. This means we'll have to..." He stopped talking as he looked at Greg's bruised face. "What happened to you?"

Greg sighed deeply. "It's personal."

Russell sat down opposite them. "Who hit you?"

"N-No one."

Russell gave him a look before addressing Nick. "Did he tell you?"

Nick nodded as he opened his mouth to speak, but Greg didn't let him. "I'm sitting right here, you know? Don't talk about me like I'm not here."

"Then talk to me," the supervisor said rather unnerved. He tried to be understanding, but it was hard to do so with Greg acting like that.

"...Why can't you accept that I don't want to? It's none of your business."

"Your business is my business as soon as you're taking this with you at the scene. It's obviously bothering you and if you can't even talk about it, then there's no point in letting you drive to a scene."

"...What? Russell, you can't do that. I'm perfectly capable of doing my job."

"You know, I'm really starting to doubt that. You've been through a lot and you're still going through some of it. I don't feel comfortable letting you out in the field."

Greg looked rather shocked at his supervisor. "You can't put me on desk duty, Dr. Reyes evaluated me. She says I'm fine out in the field."

"Guys, let's all tone it down a bit. Not letting him out in the field won't help him, Russell," Nick chimed in with a worried look on his face. "There's other ways to help him address his issues."

"...My issues? What the hell's going on, is this some kind of intervention?"

"Greg, I'm trying to help. You're both being unreasonable right now."

"I'm not unreasonable," both Greg and Russell said quite resentful.

Nick sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I just think you're both overreacting. Russell, Greg is probably a little embarrassed, that's why he doesn't want to tell you. And Greg, come on, Russell's worried. You can't show up at the lab with that banged-up face and expect everyone to accept that you don't want to talk about it. Just tell him."

Greg gave Nick a poisonous look. Deep down he knew he was right, but he was still annoyed. He turned to Russell with quite a cold look. "Camille's ex punched me out of jealousy. Happy now?"

Russell gave him a look. "That's hardly something I could be happy about, but... thank you for telling me. Have you filed a police report yet?"

"He doesn't want to," Nick chimed in again.

Greg rolled his eyes. "Mom, Dad, would you **please** let me deal with this the way I want to? I won't file a report, end of discussion."

"He must've hit you pretty hard. How often did he swing at you?" Russell looked at him concerned. He was calming down again.

Greg just looked away rather ashamed.

"Do you think he might've ever hurt her?"

Greg shook his head, still not looking at his boss. "She guaranteed me that he'd never hurt her. And I believe her. He let go of me the moment she walked back into the room. He was just... angry and jealous..."

"That doesn't give him the right to punch you. ...Several times, from what I can see." Russell kept staring at Greg's face. "...Are those marks on your neck bruises?"

Greg was a bit lost in his thoughts, but this question made him concentrate on his colleagues again. "Huh? ...Oh, yeah." He looked a little helpless to Nick, his eyes slowly filling with tears.

"...Russell, I don't think we need to know all the details." He tried to help his friend out. "You know now what happened, can't we just go to work?"

* * *

Russell and Greg came back from their crime scene an hour after Nick did. There was some tension between the two that didn't quite go away before the supervisor tried real hard to keep Greg's mind off of the recent event, but he kept a little more to himself than usual. He still hated the fact that he was being supervised at the scene and felt quite embarrassed about the incident with Ed.

"I'll meet you down at autopsy, I just have to take care of some paperwork," Russell said as he patted Greg's back before walking into the break room, where he met Nick at the coffee machine. "I'm running out of ways to talk to him," he said quite depressed to his colleague as he fixed himself a cup of coffee.

"Tell me about it. I mean, I know he had some rough years, but I sometimes feel like he's on another planet or something. Just too distant and reserved." Nick sighed as he sat down at the table.

"Did he give you any more details about the attack?"

"A little. But I feel like he left some things out. I have no idea where he got the bruises on his neck from."

Russell shrugged. "But it's quite obvious the guy strangled him with his bare hands."

Nick nodded with a concerned look that also showed some anger. "I know. It just doesn't feel right that this guy is getting away with it."

"Hey guys..." Camille walked in with a faint smile on her face. She overheard their conversation. "You're talking about Greg and Ed, right?"

Nick was quite surprised at first, but then nodded. "Yeah. What the hell happened?"

"It was just... a stupid accident. Ed is a nice guy, and I mean that. But he has a temper, I'm not gonna lie about that. He gets jealous quite easily... He doesn't want to accept that we broke up, he considers us to just be taking a break."

Russell raised his eyebrows. "Has he done something like that before?"

"...Not exactly. There was a guy at a club once who tried to hit on me and... Okay, yeah, something like that. The guy filed a report but Ed's a cop, too, the report was dropped quicker than it was filed."

"...So you suggested Greg just didn't bother with it?"

She hastily shook her head. "No, not at all. It was his decision to just let it go. I would've taken him to the station myself, had he insisted on going there."

Nick shook his head quite annoyed. "So what? The guy will keep beating up anyone who shows some interest in you?"

"Nick, it's not like I want him to behave like that. I've told him to get therapy before, but he refused. That's only one reason I broke it off with him. He's a good man who just... He has issues, I know that."

"Have you seen this... good man's work? Greg looks horrible."

"I-I'm not denying that, Nick. It's just... Greg's willing to forgive him, why can't you accept his decision?"

"Because Greg doesn't get to decide who can break laws without any consequences." Nick gave her an annoyed look.

"...Well in this case he can. I'm sure he has his reasons, you should support him instead of criticize him." She sighed with disappointment in her face.

Nick looked a bit thoughtful. "...I'll try."

"Thank you." She smiled at him. "Anyway... Could you tell him I was here? And... maybe tell him to call me when he... feels like it. And tell him I'm sorry."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hope you're enjoying this story so far!**

* * *

Nick did what Camille had asked him to a few hours later, when him and Greg were getting ready to go home in the locker room.

"...Anything else?" Greg asked as his friend was finished.

He shook his head. "Did you expect more?"

Greg shrugged as he closed his locker. "I'm not sure there's anything else she could say. I mean, I know it's not her fault but..."

"...You don't trust her anymore?"

He nodded with a sad look on his face. "I can't do anything about it. I keep telling myself that she didn't want this to happen but..."

"It's okay, Greg. That's how you feel, you need to accept that."

"But it's stupid. She didn't have anything to do with it, her feelings towards me don't change because of what happened. Why are mine changing?"

Nick gave him a look that let him know what his friend was thinking right now.

Greg sighed as he sat down on the bench. "It's normal, right?" he said sarcastically.

"I know it's not what you want to hear, but yeah, I think so. The situation triggered you."

"But Camille wasn't **in** the situation. She wasn't the one attacking me, she wasn't even in the room."

"...Robin and her girlfriend weren't the ones attacking you, either. That doesn't change the fact that you didn't trust them afterwards."

Greg rubbed his eyes over this realisation. Nick had opened his eyes. "You're right. Damn it, you're right."

"But unlike Robin, Camille had no clue what was going on. She interfered the moment she realized what was going on."

"...Yeah."

"Look, I'm not saying you should forget about it and go on like nothing happened. But maybe you'd regret cutting all ties with her in a few days. Or weeks, maybe. This isn't urgent. Just sit it out for a while, make your decision when you're ready."

Greg took Nick's advice and did nothing for the next two days. On the third day, when Camille was working the same crime scene as Greg did, there was no way to avoid her anymore.

"Hey, all alone?" she said with a smile on her face. "Where's Russell?"

"He's finally stopped supervising every single step I take." He smiled back at her, quite relieved that she wasn't acting weird around him. "How are you?" he asked as he stopped in front of the hotel room the crime took place in.

"I'm good." Her smile got bigger. "You seem to be doing well, too. Your bruises are healing good, huh?"

"...Yeah." He smiled a little embarrassed. "They should be gone in a week or two."

"Good." An awkward silence followed. "Uhm, Greg... Any chance we could talk later?"

"S-Sure... When do you get off tonight?"

"I actually have to pull a double, so maybe we could grab a coffee in a break?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Great." She smiled as she gently squeezed his arm. "Now come on, I'll show you the scene."

When Greg and Camille talked about their potential future over a cup of coffee, it went much better than expected. Greg felt like Nick was right. All he needed was some time. He didn't feel like he couldn't trust Camille anymore and he wanted to continue dating her.

After ten minutes into their talk, Camille received a call from Captain Brass – she had to leave to a scene instantly. "I'm so sorry, Greg. We'll continue this later, alright?"

"Of course, it's alright." Greg knew that the job always needed to come first, something they both agreed on. He smiled as she left, feeling quite confident about their blooming relationship. After finishing his coffee, he got up and left the diner they had been sitting in.

On his way out, he received a text message by Hodges, saying that the lab tech had found a result on the trace evidence from the CSIs case. As that case was an important one, Greg's steps got bigger. He was quite excited about those news and wanted to reach the lab fast.

"Hey there," Nick said with a smile on his face as he passed his friend on the streets.

"Oh, hey Nick. Out for a coffee run, too?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah. And you? Did you get a chance to talk to Camille?"

"Not exactly." Greg shrugged. "She had to leave for a case, but... we'll get there." He smiled.

"Good." Nick patted his friend's shoulder. "You look like you're in a hurry. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, Hodges has some interesting results for me, is all."

Nick smiled. "Well then, good luck with that."

The two parted ways and Greg kept on hurrying to the lab. But he wouldn't reach it just yet.

"Hey you!" Ed, Camille's ex, yelled as he crossed the street to walk up him.

Greg frowned quite nervously. "...W-What are you doing here?"

"Just came here to say hi." He had a smug grin on his face. "I don't think we ever really introduced ourselves. I'm Edward." He reached his hand out, but Greg didn't shake it.

"...Greg. Was nice meeting you," he said with quite a sarcastic tone as he meant to walk away, but Ed put his hand on Greg's chest to keep him from doing that.

"Not so fast."

Greg tried to hide the terrified look on his face, but he only kind of succeeded in doing that. "...What do you want from me?"

"Just wanted to... thank you for not filing a report. Smart decision, really." His grin got bigger. "You should've put ice on that, would not look as bad now."

"...I did." As much as he was scared, Greg was also getting annoyed by this arrogant man.

Ed released a mean laugh. "Yeah, I figured. Does it still hurt?" As he was constantly getting closer to Greg, he touched the CSIs bruised face, causing him to wince a little as he took a step back.

The intimidation tactic sure worked on Greg, he felt helpless and scared by now. He tried to just walk away without saying another word, but Ed pushed him against the wall behind him.

"Where do you think you're going? I wasn't finished yet."

"...Back off!" Greg reached his hands out in front of his body in defense, but all this did was show Camille's ex that his hands were shaking.

"Heh, I have no idea what she sees in you. You're not her type, she likes a **real** man. A brave man, not some sorry little wuss, unable to defend himself. I bet I could start beating you right now and all you'd do is roll up in a ball, taking every single hit I swing at you, right?" He grabbed Greg's face as he stared into his eyes. "Right?"

"...Hey!" Nick stormed over to the two, flashing his CSI I.D. "Get your hands off of him!"

Ed rolled his eyes, still grinning. "Move along, that's none of your business."

"I said get your hands off him!" Nick pushed Ed away from Greg. "Now **you** move along, or I'll arrest you!"

"...Nick, stop it," Greg whispered embarrassed.

"Do you really think it's a good idea for a CSI to arrest a cop?" Ed took his badge out. "But go ahead, if you want to committ professional suicide, be my guest."

Nick meant to take a step towards Ed, but Greg put his hand in front of him to stop him. "He's not worth the trouble, Nick. Just let it go."

"Yeah, listen to your friend, bodyguard." He laughed. "Now get lost. We're not finished here." He took a step towards Greg.

Nick stepped in between the two. "You **are** finished here. Leave."

Ed pretended to turn around to leave, but instead turned to Nick to push him to the ground. This angered the CSI and he got as quickly off the ground as he was down, storming towards the officer.

"No!" Greg stood between the two, keeping his friend away from Ed as good as possible. He needed to use his whole body weight to keep Nick back, he was furious.

"Get out of the way, Greg!" he yelled angrily.

"No, stop it! Nick, stop it!" Greg pushed him back twice before Nick stopped.

Ed shook his head laughing as he walked off. "See you soon, Greg," he said before leaving.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Now Nick pushed Greg back, causing his friend to tumble for a moment, needing to catch his breath.

"Nick, he was provoking you. He wanted you to punch him!"

A dozen scenarios of what might've happened had Greg not held Nick back started playing in the older CSIs head. "You're right. ...I'm sorry, Greg. So sorry. I shouldn't have... I lost my temper. Are you alright?" He looked Greg up and down quite concerned, realizing he might've hurt him himself.

"No, I'm fine..." The spots where Nick had pushed Greg did hurt a bit, but other than that, he was fine. ...Let's just get back to the lab."

"What?" Nick frowned. "How about we go to the police station first?"

"And tell them what? That he pushed you and violated my personal boundaries?"

The mocking tone in Greg's voice angered Nick again. "So that's all he did, yeah?"

Greg sighed. "That's all they'll believe happened."

"Do you really think Brass is gonna protect a guy like that?"

"No, of course not. But someone will. He's got friends in the department, they'll probably misplace the report or something. It's not worth the trouble."

Nick looked rather repelled at his friend. "What, this guy's getting away with this behavior because you're too lazy to do anything about it?"

"...That's not what I'm saying, it's just..."

As he looked at the empty, faked and insecure smile his friend put on his lips, he calmed down again. "You're scared of the guy, aren't you?"

The smile faded, but it was still obvious how insecure Greg was right now. "...He tracked me down just to threaten me, that's not someone I want to get involved with in any way."

Nick nodded rather thoughtful. "Yeah, he intimidated me, too..."

Greg knew his friend was lying right now, but he appreciated it. "...Can we get back to the lab now?"


	9. Chapter 9

**We're getting closer to the end!**

* * *

"Well, we need to do **something**." Nick kept raising his voice as him and Greg walked into the crime lab. "We can't just act like this didn't happen."

"Why not?" Greg was getting annoyed by his friend trying to pressure him into doing something he didn't want to do.

"Because he was threatening you. We need to take him serious."

"This will all go away once I tell Camille we can't date anymore." Greg shrugged as he walked into the trace lab. "Hey Hodges, I got your text."

Hodges meant to hand the results over, but pulled them back. "...Whoa, what happened to you two?"

The two CSIs were visibly distraught. "Nothing, just give me the results." The younger one gave him a look.

"...No, this looks like it could be a good story. Spill it."

Instead of telling the story, Greg lost his temper, so he grabbed Hodges' arm to get the results on his own. "There, wasn't that hard, was it?" he said sarcastically as he walked out of the lab.

"...What's up with him?" the lab tech asked confused and a little shocked.

"He's had a rough night, just let it slide." Nick walked out to follow his friend into the evidence room. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry." He looked at the results as he grabbed a lab coat and gloves.

"...Wait, are you serious? You're just getting back to work?"

"What else am I suppose to do?"

"I don't know, anything else, really. If you don't want to go home, at least take a minute to digest what just happened."

"No need to, I need to get back to work." Greg grabbed some scissors, meaning to cut out some evidence from a pair of pants he held in his hand.

"...This is ridiculous, your hands are shaking. How are you supposed to..."

"I just have to!" he yelled, interrupting his friend. "I can't keep letting these things put me down, Nick, I have to get on with my daily life. I have no other choice, alright? So... Do whatever you have to do to... digest... what just happened. I need to get back to work."

Nick sighed. "Can I help?"

"...Yes, you can go now and leave me alone."

Nick and Greg had to leave for a new crime scene an hour after their little dispute. Both had cooled down a bit, but hardly talked on the ride to the scene. When they arrived, Greg's poker face crumbled as he spotted Camille. "...Damn it, she's here." He looked around nervously. He would've loved to hide from her, but there wasn't much hiding place at this supermarket parking lot. "What should I do?"

Nick frowned. "Just relax. You don't have to tell her what happened now, you can do that later."

"...Later? I planned on not telling her... ever."

"Are you serious? She needs to know!"

"Does she? There's nothing she can do about it, anyway."

Nick gave him a look. "Not if you're staying silent. But if you tell her, she could at least, I don't know... talk to that jerk."

"...Yeah, like talking did any good the first ti... Damn, she's coming over. Act normal!"

Nick rolled his eyes as he walked past Camille, greeting her with an annoyed look on his face.

Greg hated him for leaving him alone right now. "...Hey Camille."

"Is he okay?" She asked smiling as she pointed at Nick.

"...Yeah, everything fine."

"Not very convincing, Greg." She gently patted his shoulder. "Anyway, I'm glad they sent you here. Want me to show you the scene?"

"...S-Sure..."

They started walking towards the scene, but Camille noticed right away that something was wrong. "Did you and Nick have a fight or something?"

"W-what? No, why?"

"You're both acting weird."

"I **just** said everything's fine," Greg replied rather aggressive and unnerved. He instantly regretted this, but he wasn't quite in control over his emotions at the moment. "...Sorry."

Camille looked away with a sad look. "Come on, the scene's over there."

While Greg was inside the supermarket to talk to some potential witnesses, Nick was outside at the parking lot to work the scene. Camille was with the CSI, walking up and down quite nervously, obviously dying to ask Nick some questions she wasn't sure she should ask him.

He noticed and was getting nervous, himself, watching her. "What is it?" he finally said annoyed as he got up from photographing some evidence.

"...Huh? Nothing..." She sighed. "...Alright, it's just... Greg was a little... weird when you guys arrived here. He seemed on edge and almost yelled at me when I asked what was bothering him... Is he alright?"

"Shouldn't you be asking him?"

"...I tried, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it."

Nick shrugged. "Maybe he just doesn't want you to know."

"...This is about Ed, isn't it? I don't get it, everything seemed to be okay again. What changed?"

"...Nothing, that's the problem."

Camille frowned. "What do you mean?"

"...Forget I said anything." He crouched down to keep on working.

"Nick, come on. You're his friend, you want him to be happy, don't you? What can I do to help him with this?"

"...Okay... You don't get it, do you? Ed ripped open Greg's old wounds. He struggles a lot to deal with everything that's been done to him, it took him **years** to be able to get back to a relatively normal daily routine. But the problem is, it only takes seconds to throw him back months in his recovery. That's what happened when this Ed idiot attacked him and that's why you might find he's acting a little weird."

Camille stared at Nick. She didn't expect him to snap at her like that and she certainly didn't realize how hard Greg was struggling. "He... He said he was fine."

"Of course he did, he always does. But he never is. He's been hurt too much to be able to be honest with his own feelings."

She fought the tears back as she tried to find the right words to say to explain what she was thinking at the moment, but they wouldn't come out. "Poor Greg, I... what can I do?"

Nick got up again. "Make sure Ed will never... ever put his hands on Greg. Because if you don't... I will."


	10. Chapter 10

**Last chapter, guys! I have a few new story ideas i hope i can upload soon. I hope you enjoyed the story, let me know what you think!**

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"...I'm really sorry I lashed out on you earlier," Greg said as he looked out of the window of Nick's car. They were driving back to the lab from their crime scene, where they didn't get a chance to talk to each other.

"Don't sweat it. We were both stressed out." Nick gently smiled at his friend before looking back on the street.

"Yeah, but I know you are just trying to help and... I know I can be an unthankful jerk sometimes."

Nick chuckled. "I wouldn't phrase it that way, but... I won't argue with you about it, either."

"Thanks," Greg replied sarcastically with a smile on his lips. "I feel so lost right now, you know? I mean, I was ready to... think about sleeping with Camille the one day and back at being terrified of being alone with her the other. I'm scared that I'll never get to the point where I'm **really** ready to leave this all behind me."

"Well maybe that's the problem, you know? You trying to keep this behind you. It's part of you know and there's nothing you can do to change that. Stop trying to make the impossible happen by putting it behind you and start to learn to live with it, without it dominating your life. If that means you'll need another few months or even years to be ready for an intimate relationship, so be it. But I think you're stopping yourself from growing if you have these high expectations for yourself."

Greg stared at Nick, but looked away quite thoughtful after a moment.

Nick noticed, so he added, "Just face it, Greg. You'll never be able to forget about it, but just like with any other horrible experience it could be a faded memory in a few years. You're giving Novak too much power over your life as long as you won't accept that."

Greg started crying, there was no way for him to keep the tears from falling down his face. The night was too straining, too depressing for him to keep his composure. He had heard similar words from Nick and even Dr. Reyes before, but it was the first time they actually resonated with him.

Only a brief glance over to Greg was needed for Nick to notice his friend was crying. "...Sorry."

"No," Greg said with a smile on his face as he wiped away his tears. "You're right. Thank you."

Greg let Nick's wise words replay in the back of his head for three days now, constantly asking himself what to do with this insight. He knew something needed to change, but he wasn't sure whether he needed to take a step forward or one back, to where he was last happy with his situation. In these three days, he didn't contact Camille and they didn't meet at work, either. But today Camille decided it was time to meet up. She stormed into the break room at the start of the CSIs shift with a distraught look on her face. "Did he threaten you?!"

Greg looked up from his coffee with a confused look. "...What? Who?"

"...Ed, who else?! Did he?"

"...Yes."

She sat down opposite him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I... wasn't sure you'd believe me."

"What? ...Why? Why shouldn't I believe you?"

"...Okay, it's not just that. I wasn't sure I could trust you. ...But that's my problem, it doesn't have anything to do with you."

Camille sighed. "Sure it does. I should've handled this all better. I should've showed you that I was appalled that Ed attacked you in the first place. I should've sent him out, not you..."

He shrugged. "What's done is done, Camille. There's no point in regretting the decisions you made."

"Please don't be that way. I realize I hurt you, but... I want to make it up to you."

"There's nothing to make up to. It's fine, I get it. He's your ex, you have history together and you thought he was more trustworthy."

"...Yeah, of course. And don't worry, I talked to him. He said he just wanted to scare you and didn't mean any of the things he said to you. He won't bother you again."

"That's good."

"...So we're okay?"

"Camille, you know I like you a lot, right?"

"...Oh god." She sighed. "That's never good."

He gave her a soft smile. "I really do. But you have to understand that it's not gonna be easy dating me. Just ask around the lab, I can be horribly moody. I have deep trust issues and can be way too sensitive. And any realistic chance of getting intimate with you in the next few... months, probably, flew out the window the second your ex attacked me. This all isn't your fault but I'll probably make you feel like it is every once in a while. I'll never mean it like that, but you'll be hurt by it, anyway. I'm not sure I want to put you through all this."

"...Because you like me, right?" She smiled at him. "Isn't that enough? Can't we just enjoy the honeymoon phase before we talk about these things?" She gently put her hand on his, but he pulled back as he gave her quite an uncomfortable look. This made her realize her optimistic, quite naïve idea would not work out like she wanted it to. "...Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I just can't put you through this, it wouldn't be fair. You deserve to be happy."

"...Well, don't you, too? I want you to be happy, Greg. And I just don't believe you'll be happier being alone than being with me. Let's just try it out for another few weeks. If one of us isn't happy then, we can go back to being friends, right?"

"...So it's really over?" Nick asked with worry in his voice as he handed Greg an evidence bag out on a crime scene.

"Yeah, it's better that way... I think." Greg grabbed the bag and put the evidence in. "She just doesn't get it, you know? She was trying but sometimes that's not enough."

"Sorry to hear that." He patted him on the back. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It just wasn't meant to be at the moment. Maybe in a few months things will look different, but right now we're not good for eachother."

Nick was quite impressed with how mature Greg was handling the situation. "Will you be able to work with her?"

He quickly nodded. "Of course. It might take some time, but I'm sure we can be friends."

"I'm really proud of you, man. It takes a lot of guts to acknowledge that it's just not the right time." Nick kept on talking about this subject for quite some time, but he stopped as soon as he noticed his friend was crying. "...Greg?"

"...I'm fine. It's just been a few rough weeks and... I'm sorry." He sobbed as he wiped away the tears falling down his cheek.

Nick took a few steps closer to his friend to embrace him.

"...No, Nick, it's okay, I..."

"Shut up," Nick gently said to him, still holding him in his arms, "It **is** okay." They remained like that for a few minutes, giving Greg the opportunity to let all his pain and tension out, before going back to work. He felt a bit better after this cry and Nick's hug, but seeing Camille almost everyday at work would hurt him quite a lot for the next few weeks before he would be finally over their failed relationship.

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 **Ende.**


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